Canberra man who fathered child with 15yo, tried to bribe her with car, jailed on child sex charges

A Canberra man who tried to bribe a pregnant teenager into keeping silent about the fact he was her baby's father has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Key points:

A man commenced a "relationship" with the girl in 2017, when he was 25, despite being aware of her age

The girl was offered a car to not name the father of her baby when talking to police

The judge said the man was guilty of "opportunistic" offending

The man, who was 25 years old at the time of his offending, was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on charges of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person, assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The court heard both he and the girl had been caught up in a heavy cycle of drug use, when the girl asked him to help her escape an abusive relationship.

The pair first met in December 2017 and were together for several months before the girl became pregnant.

The court heard that when she told the man she had fallen pregnant he remarked "we gonna be a family".

Evidence showed the man was aware of the girl's age from early on, and that he was warned about it by a friend.

He had taken sexual photos and videos of the girl, but on one occasion when he realised she had sent an intimate picture from his phone to hers, he demanded she delete it.

"It's illegal to send explicit images to a minor," he told her.

The man was also sentenced on assault charges, with one of the attacks leaving the victim with a black eye.

Before the man was arrested, he sent the girl a Facebook message saying he would give her his car if she told police she did not know who the father was.

Offender had 'genuine fondness' for victim: Judge

The court heard the victim had given birth in January, and that the offender had two other children.

Those children were born from a relationship the man had with a much older woman, which began when he was 15 himself.

Chief Justice Helen Murrell told the court the fact the victim became pregnant ensured the man's crimes would have a life-long impact.

"The victim's lack of opposition to the sexual activity is not a mitigating factor. By virtue of age, any child lacks the capacity to give real consent," she said.

"It is not correct to describe the relationship between the offender and [the victim] as predatory, but rather as opportunistic.